A rose by any other name
by BelinErnestUK
Summary: Based loosely on 'Beauty and the Beast'. Belle is a 'Robin Hood' style princess which leads her to meet the beastly prince Adam in a set of unusual circumstances, safe to say they don't get on well at first. Ok, I need to work on my summaries but please give it ago! My first fanfic so please give me your comments, Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Belle charged down a long thin alley which stank of rotting meat and a host of other things she really didn't want to think about. She wore unusual clothes, they were jet black and covered almost every part of her body, except her beautiful big brown eyes. She held a short sword in one hand, a leather bag in the other, and was currently being chased by six huge thugs. She jumped over boxes and other rubbish that littered the street, dodging and leaping over obstacles in her way. She spun round the final corner of the alley and found herself at a dead end. Gulping, she turned around and heard laughter behind her. She tried desperately to find a way out but could see no escape.

The six thugs lined up in front of her, each carrying some sort blunt instrument. Belle sighed, she may be very handy with a sword but she was not super human... She could probably take about three or four of them. But six...

The biggest and ugliest one trudged forward.

"Alright scum, give it over"

The man spoke in a horrible, cracked voice. Even from the considerable distance between she could smell his rancid breath. She crinkled up her nose and turned around again to stare at the high brick wall that was blocking her from freedom. She wasn't even going to grace this brute with an answer. Also the dolt seemed to think she was a boy, which would make tracking her harder and for the life of her she could not do accents, foreign or male voices where beyond her. The thugs might be bleeding idiots but she had a feeling that even they might be able to tell the difference between a male and female voice.

"Hey! I'm talking to you, you little bastard"

She had now had enough, at the exact moment that the man lunged for her she spun around and hit him hard with the hilt of her sword. The others made grumbles of protest and made to move towards her. She grabbed an old glass bottle that smelled suspiciously of urine, gagging mentally she smashed it over the head of her nearest attacker. He fell backward and knocked over the two behind him. She spun and took out another one with a swift kick. Then smashed the last one into the side of the wall, his arm caught on some sort of nail and he howled in pain. She staggered back and looked down at the six groaning and screaming men. Nice. Maybe she shouldn't be so harsh on her skills. She almost felt like laughing, but knew that now really wasn't the time.

It didn't take her long to navigate her way out of the alley way, she knew them well. She headed towards one of the many shelters that lay dotted around the poorer areas of Auraton. She held the leather bag tight to her chest and looked down, trying not to catch anyone's eye. She walked towards the old women that was in charge of the shelter, she was currently bent over a little child, checking the pox marks on his arms for infections. It made Belle sick to watch. Finally the old women stood up and looked at Belle, she smiled and gestured at Belle to follow her, she quickly complied.

"And what can I do for you?"

The old women smiled kindly but gave Belle a piercing glance that was not altogether unfriendly but still sent a shiver up her back. Wanting to leave quickly, Belle thrust the leather bag towards the women who took it. She opened it and let the thick gold coins fall into the wrinkled palm of her hand. Her eyes widened and Belle felt a warm flush creep up her cheeks, she was glad that most of her face was covered.

"So you are the Black Rose that I have heard so much about? Robbing the the rich to feed the poor, right?"

Belle glared, there was something in her tone, as if condoning her robbery. surely she isn't angry?

"Well, I prefer to think of it as robbing the bad to feed the good. I don't steal from good people, no matter how rich they are. I rob those who deserve it."

The women looked at her for a while longer before breaking into a genuine smile, she then thanked Belle and went back to tending to the sick. Belle stared at her, confused as to the sudden change but turned around to leave. The sun was setting as she left the tent and she swore softly, tearing off into the dimming light. She reached the small passage right outside the castle walls, out of breath but smiling as she thought about the look on the cruel old jailers face when he found out that he had lost everything. It would certainly teach him to mistreat his prisoners, and she knew he would be gone soon so he would not be able to take out his anger on them. After all, with all his money gone how would he be able to pay of the debts he had? He would have to run away and if his replacement was just as cruel... Well, she would cross that bridge when she came to it.

She slipped down the dark passage and walked forwards towards a beautiful blue and white dress that complimented her chocolate brown eyes and dark golden brown hair. She changed quickly, washed her hands and face and tried to make her hair look vaguely presentable. Once this was done she climbed out of the other end of the passage and started to run towards the grand dinning hall as the clock struck ten times. She stopped outside the doors to try and remove the faint flush from her cheeks, finding herself unsuccessful she sighed and opened the door.

Four beautifully dressed people looked up at her as she entered the room. At either end of a long table sat the king and queen of Auraton, between them two beautiful girls. Belle took her place at the only empty chair. They continued to look at her until she finally spoke.

"Sorry I'm late father"


	2. Chapter 2

Belle sighed as dinner finally finished, she was exhausted after the long day. She and her two sisters walked back to their quarters together. Belle was the youngest of the three sisters. The eldest was named Gabrielle, she was twenty and had the same dark golden brown hair as Belle, except with stunning green eyes paired with them. She was kind and loving, but naive in a way that Belle had never been. The middle sister was named Suzanne, she was nineteen and just as beautiful as the others but with creamy blond hair and the same bright green eyes as the eldest. She was just as kind as Gabrielle but very sharp and clever, her greatest joy was reading and so she spent many hours in the huge library. Arguably the most beautiful of the sisters, seventeen year old Belle loved reading books too, but she preferred the world of fantasy whereas Suzanne lived in world filled with factual histories and biographies. The three princess where the pride of their parents, as well as the kingdom.

They said goodnight to each other and Belle headed to her own room, where she flopped onto her bed, fully clothed and reached under it to where she kept a little book of the names of people she had yet to get rid of. She crossed of the Jailer and surveyed the list. The baker of the western gates who had been putting chalk in his bread to save money, selling it at a slightly cheaper price and poisoning over twenty people. He sounded promising. She would get him tomorrow. Belle smiled as she drifted of to sleep.

Belle woke up to many delicious smells that morning, she strained to remember if it was someone's birthday today because the whole house seemed to be preparing for some sort of grand feast. Belle went to her sisters and asked them, worriedly, if she should run into town to get some sort of last minute present. They laughed and Suzanne said,

"No silly! We only just found out but the old king of Blackcastle is visisting today with his four sons. The eldest is Prince Adam who is 23, then Prince Charles who is 22, Prince Fredrick who is 20 and finally the youngest Prince Thomas who is your age."

"And father wants you on your best behaviour because none of the princes are married, but I don't really see why the fact that they are not married has anything to do with it..."

Belle and Suzanne turned and looked with slight disbelief at their older sister. Belle turned and faced Suzanne again.

"When are we meeting them?"

"We shall be presented to them at the ball tonight, which starts at ten, but you should begin to get ready at eight."

Belle groaned but nodded and turned to go, hopefully the Baker of the western gate would have less thugs guarding his shop.

Adam glanced around and the filthy streets as he rode past them on his huge black stallion. He was angry with his father for dragging him along to this filthy place, for asking him to be on his best behaviour. His brothers had certainly been captured by the beauty of the three princesses. Certainly, they had their merits but their where many beautiful women in this world, the three famed princesses looked just as boring as all the others. A homeless man ran up to him and grabbed the hem of his black cloak babbling some pathetic nonsense about a sick wife and starving child, disgusted, he kicked the man to the floor.

He was just about to ride on when something hit him square in the back, he was catapulted off his horse and landed with a thud in the muddy ground. He got up, snarling, only to be knocked down again by a person dressed all in black. Big brown eyes flashed at him and he felt a fist collide with his jaw. People where laughing now and he furiously stood up as the figure ran off again holding a heavy, gold trimmed, black leather bag. His heavy, gold trimmed, black leather bag.

Snarling he jumped to his feet and sprinted after the figure.

Belle was once again being chased down alleys. That horrid, evil snake of a man had deserved more than she had had time to give him, but now he was chasing her, and catching up too. Belle sprinted a bit longer, unwilling to stop and look back until she felt something hit her square in the back, she fell and skidded along the ground. Looking up she saw a huge figure looming above her. Rough hands pulled the bag away from her and she was left lying on the floor, feeling completely terrified. The figure placed his foot delicately on top of her right ankle and put as much force on it as he could muster, crushing it into the dirt. Belle heard it crack and stars popped up in front of her eyes as she let out a low, muffled scream.

The figure straddled her and looked down into her eyes, chocolate brown meeting ice grey.

"And that, is what you get when you humiliate me, you little shit."

He grabbed a dagger out of his boot and placed it at the side of her throat, where it tore through the fabric and left a thin red line, no thicker than a spiders thread. Belle could barely move because she was so frightened, but realised that she had to do something.

With a last burst of strength she kicked up and smashed him right in the crotch. He howled in pain and she shoved him of her. She staggered to her feet and ran, trying to ignore the pain in her broken ankle.

Belle reached the castle in a terrible state, but managed to find the way back to her room without running into anyone. She tried binding her ankle herself, but to no avail. She had no idea what to do when the servants arrived to help prepare her for the ball.


	3. Chapter 3

Adam was still seething. If only he had seen more of his attacker than just big brown eyes. He dressed into deep blue robes and walked towards the door. He would find the attacker if it was the last thing he ever did.

Belle stared at her reflection in the mirror, she wore a dress of gold and her golden brown hair had been balanced in curls at the top of her head. She looked very beautiful. But the pain in her ankle was still there. She had bound it tightly and would go to a shelter tomorrow in search of help.

She wandered towards the ball room entrance, were she met her two sisters. They seemed to be giggling about something.

"What, has something happened?"

"No, it's just we caught a glimpse of the princes. They are very handsome!"

"Really?"

Suzanne nodded in conformation of Gabrielle's statement. She had a slight flush in her cheeks and her eyes where very bright.

"We are proud to introduce to you, the three princesses of Auraton"

Shouted a voice at the base of the stairs and the huge wooden doors swung open to reveal the three beauties.

Boring.

He would much rather be searching for his brown eyed attacker. As the princesses came closer he was able to get a better look. They were beautiful, especially the last and youngest. He would ask her to dance with him. He didn't want to particularly but he knew his father would cause a scene if he didn't. He walked up to her and bowed low, she curtsied a little shakily. Great. He picked the clumsy one.

The walked onto the ball room floor to much applause. They had not yet looked very carefully at each other, but as the music began to play they looked slowly into each others eyes. chocolate brown meeting ice grey. They stood still for a while. Her eyes slowly widened and a look of horror flashed across her face.

Adam couldn't believe it. The little perfect princess was the attacker? How? Surely he was mistaken. He looked down at her slender neck and saw a small cut there, barely thicker than a spider web. Then a cruel smile broke over his face, this was going to be fun. He would make the little princess pay for humiliating him.

Belle felt her cheeks flush.

Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. How could she be so unlucky? The man, the reason she could barely stand for the pain in her ankle, was looking at her and smiling. But how could he know?

The prince let his finger brush gently against the thin cut on her neck. He pulled her closer to him and whispered softly into her ear.

"I think this trip is going to be much more fun than I first thought it would be."


	4. Chapter 4

"Please, sir. As much as I love dancing with you. I... I need to sit down"

Belle could barely stand, she was sure her ankle was cracking every time she moved even the tiniest bit. He just grinned back at her, smiling his horrid smile. Belle never cried by rule but she was being pushed to her limit. Tears where burning the back of her eyes and her throat was constricting to the point that she choked every two of three steps. He could see the effect he had on her, and he kept doing it.

She hated him.

She heard the other people whispering about him. He was an excellent dancer. An excellent horseman. An excellent scholar. He was perfect at everything and he was one of the best looking men in the country. Only she saw him for what he was. A beast.

"I'm sorry, it's just you are such a wonderful dancer my dear. I would hate to stop dancing. One more dance please?"

"No!"

She half shouted it, and a few people looked around. He just grinned. She tried to force herself away from him but he just held onto her more.

"Please"

Her voice broke as she said it and he looked at her sharply.

"I don't like being humiliated little princess"

She glared up at him. She charged on with the dance and felt her ankle give way. She collapsed into him, his chest felt cold and hard against her. He lifted her up a little bit and she could feel him smiling at her vulnerability. No. She was going to break, to cry. She couldn't do that here, not with everyone watching.

She pushed away from him and walked out of the ball room onto the balcony, she could feel him follow her.

She felt the sobs catch in her throat and she walked down the stairs of the balcony into the garden, slipping down the last few steps and collapsing in a heap at the bottom. Angry tears slid down her beautiful face and she looked down, gripping her pulsing ankle.

He was standing in front of her, she could see his highly polished boots.

She knew she should look at his face, stand up to him. But she couldn't. It was too humiliating...

"You disappoint me"

His voice was like ice, she looked up in shock. He sighed and crouched down, so that their noses where almost touching. She recoiled backwards and he smiled.

"I thought you where better than this. Interesting... Stronger... But no. You are boring and weak like all the other ones. You are no different. You pretend to be strong, that's all. There really is nothing special about you."

He stood up again, looking down at her. Enjoying her suffering.

"Weak?"

She could not believe he had just said that. She hated herself for showing weakness.

She hated him.

She refused to take it, she stood up and felt the dark garden begin to spin.

"WEAK?"

He looked at her, surprised, before glancing up to make sure her shout had not disturbed anyone at the ball. She didn't care if anyone heard her. She was going to tell this bastard just what she thought of him.

"Weak am I?"

She was snarling and his eyebrows where raised slightly.

"I wasn't the one who who got launched of their horse after a small push!"

He narrowed his eyes and took a threatening step closer to her but she did not back down.

"You think you are so amazing don't you. You believe what those people whisper about you. You think you are great. You think you are clever. You think you are handsome."

He stood very still.

"Your not."

She whispered it. He looked at her for a long time before replying.

"Not what?"

"Not any of those things."

He just looked at her, unblinking.

"I can see you. The real you"

"Oh you can, can you?"

"Yes"

They stared at each other. Her eyes hot with anger, his cold and calculating.

"You are a monster."

He didn't say anything.

"You are a beast."

She had moved closer to him without realising it. Her head barely made it to his chest but she looked up into his eyes.

He stared strait ahead.

His eyes moved down to hers. He leaned closer, she could feel his breath on her cheeks. He leaned closer and closer. She felt her breathing quicken.

His lips met hers, and the world seemed to freeze. It was a chaste kiss. A gentle kiss.

It surprised her.

Stars exploded in front of her vision.

Then, everything went black.


End file.
